The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) governs the registration of certain types of domain names on the Internet. It accredits registrars and promulgates policies on domain name registration. One of its policies mandates that each registrar maintain a publicly-accessible database (a “whois” database) that lists the name of, and contact information for, each of registrants for each domain name registered at that registrar. See ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement, Approved May 17, 2001, Section 3.3.
An example of a portion of a domain name registration record in a whois database is shown in FIG. 1. Registrant information 101 of domain name 102 includes the registrant name 103, postal mail address 104, telephone number 105. The administrative and technical information 106 includes the administrative contact name 107 and technical contact name 108, administrative contact e-mail address 109, technical contact e-mail address 110, administrative contact telephone number 111 and technical contact telephone number 112.
A registrant may wish to keep private certain of the information that is publicly available in the whois database, such as telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, mail addresses, etc. For example, publicly available e-mail addresses in the whois database are mined by SPAMmers. As a result, such e-mail addresses can receive substantial amounts of unsolicited commercial e-mail (“SPAM”). In response to the need to keep domain name registration information private, certain registrars offer services designed to shield such information.
One known domain name registration privacy service called SPAM Shield is offered by the registrar Dotster, Inc. The SPAM Shield service replaces a registrant's e-mail address in a whois record with a SPAM Shield e-mail address. E-mail received at the SPAM Shield address is filtered for SPAM before being forwarded to an e-mail address designated by the registrant. To further confound data miners, the SPAM Shield e-mail address in the whois record is changed every ten days.
Another known domain name registration privacy service is offered by Domains by Proxy, Inc. The registrant of a domain name subscribes to the Domain by Proxy service, which replaces all of the registrant's registrant, administrative and technical information in the whois entry for the domain name registration with Domain by Proxy information. FIG. 2 shows a comparison of publicly available whois information 201 and what is shown when the registrant subscribes to the Domains by Proxy service 202. Domains by Proxy is contractually bound to the subscriber to dispose of the domain name registration in accordance with the subscriber's instructions.
The Domains by Proxy service is described in International Patent Application numbers WO 2004/029821, “Proxy E-mail Method and System” and WO 2004/021203, “Method and System for Domain Name Registration and E-mail by Proxy.” The registrant essentially transfers the domain name registration to Domains by Proxy. The registrant thereby becomes a “subscriber” to the privacy service, which is contractually bound to act at the subscriber's behest as the registrant of the domain name.
When correspondence is addressed to the registrant of the domain name, the Domains by Proxy service offers to forward it to the subscriber. First class postal mail (other than legal notices), “junk” mail or other unsolicited communications (regardless of their mode of delivery) are discarded or returned to the sender by the privacy service.
Domains by Proxy creates an e-mail address that is accessible to the subscriber for each registered domain name (“DOMAIN_NAME”) of the format DOMAIN_NAME@domainsbyproxy.com (the “DBP account”). E-mails received at each such address are either forwarded to the subscriber as-is; filtered for SPAM and forwarded; or discarded, as elected in advance by the subscriber.
When Domains by Proxy receives certified or traceable courier mail or legal notices addressed to the subscriber's contact information found in his domain name registration, it sends an e-mail message to the subscriber's DBP account. The e-mail message identifies the sender of the correspondence, the date Domains by Proxy received it, and a brief description of its contents. The subscriber is given seventy-two hours to decide whether to reject the correspondence or have it forwarded via overnight courier, facsimile, or both, at the subscriber's expense. Should the subscriber not respond to the Domains by Proxy e-mail message, Domains by Proxy attempts to contact the subscriber via telephone. If the subscriber does not respond and is unreachable, Domains by Proxy reserves the right to immediately reveal the subscriber's identity and/or cancel the subscriber's private registration service. In that case, the subscriber once again becomes the registrant of the domain name, and the whois directory reverts to displaying the registrant's true registration name and contact information, including the registrant's identity, postal address, e-mail address and phone number.
In the Domains by Proxy scheme, making changes to the domain name registration can be cumbersome because Domains by Proxy is the registrant, albeit contractually bound to act in accordance with the subscriber's instructions with regard to the domain name registration. Thus, the subscriber cannot directly make any changes to the registration or registration information, e.g., using the registrar's account management utilities. Rather, the subscriber must instruct Domains by Proxy to make any change, which Domains by Proxy must then carry out.
For example, transferring a domain name registration from a first registrar (a “Losing Registrar”) to a second registrar (a “Gaining Registrar) must be done by the administrative contact or registered name as shown in the whois record for the domain name registration. All accredited domain name registrars must comply with the ICANN Policy on Transfer of Registrations between Registrars, dated 12 Jul. 2004 (“ICANN Transfer Policy.”) The Policy states, “The Administrative Contact and the Registered Name Holder, as listed in the Losing Registrar's or applicable Registry's (where available) publicly accessible WHOIS service are the only parties that have the authority to approve or deny a transfer request to the Gaining Registrar. In the event of a dispute, the Registered Name Holder's authority supersedes that of the Administrative Contact.” ICANN Transfer Policy, Section 1.1. Ordinarily, transferring a registration is done directly by the actual registrant of the domain name.
Thus, only Domains by Proxy can transfer a domain name registration from a Losing Registrar to a Gaining Registrar. A subscriber wishing to do so must instruct Domains by Proxy to make the transfer, and provide the necessary information and authorization to Domains by Proxy. Alternatively, the subscriber can cancel its Domains by Proxy service and become the registrant for the domain name, and then transfer the domain name registration himself. However, in so doing, his registration information will become publicly available in the whois record for the domain name registration.
A better domain name registration privacy system would protect the registrant's sensitive information while allowing him to manipulate the registration (e.g., transfer, change registration information, etc.) directly, without proceeding through a privacy service.